Independence, Iowa
Encyclopedia
Independence is a city in and the county seat
of Buchanan County
, Iowa
, United States
. The population was 5,966 in the 2010 census, a decline from 6,014 in the 2000 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), of which 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²), or 3.39%, is water.
of 2000, there were 6,014 people, 2,432 households, and 1,588 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,621.8 people per square mile (625.9/km²). There were 2,610 housing units at an average density of 703.9 per square mile (271.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.97% White, 0.28% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.22% from other races
, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.
There were 2,432 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,554, and the median income for a family was $45,951. Males had a median income of $31,161 versus $21,597 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $20,683. About 5.0% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
. The town was intended as an alternative to Quasqueton
(then called Quasequetuk), which was the county seat prior to 1847. The village of Independence had fewer than 15 persons when the county seat was transferred there.
On Main Street, on the west bank of the Wapsipinicon, a six-story grist mill was built in 1867. Some of its foundation stones were taken from that of an earlier mill, the New Haven Mill, built in 1854, that was used for wool processing. (Prior to the incorporation of Independence in 1864, a short-lived neighboring village, called New Haven, had grown up on the west side of the river, hence the name New Haven Mill.) The 1867 mill, now called the Wapsipinicon Mill, was a source of electrical energy from 1915 to 1940. Some structural restoration occurred in recent years, and the mill now functions partly as an historical museum.
A courthouse was built in 1857, on the east side of the town, on a site described at that time as "the highest tract of land in the neighborhood," where offers "a fine view of the city of Independence, the Valley of the Wapsipinicon, and the surrounding Country". The original courthouse was replaced in 1939 by a Moderne or Art Deco
structure.
Among the town's distinctions has been the long-term presence of the Independence State Hospital
(formerly called the Iowa State Hospital for the Insane), located on a large, remote tract of land on the west edge of town. The recently restored main building, called the Reynolds Building (made of "native prairie granite" in French Second Empire style), was built in 1873. Today it is open to the public for scheduled tours.
For a few years in the late 1880s and early 1890s, Independence was a nationally-known horse-racing center, and was sometimes referred to as the "Lexington of the North". This came about as a result of the meteoric financial success of Charles W. Williams. A telegraph operator and creamery owner from nearby Jesup, Iowa
, Williams (with no experience in breeding horses) purchased in 1885 two mares, each of which within a year gave birth to a stallion. These two stallions, which Williams named Axtel and Allerton, went on the set world trotting records, with the result that Williams' earnings enabled him to publish a racing newspaper titled The American Trotter, to build a large three-story hotel and opera house called The Gedney, and to construct a figure-eight shaped race track on the west edge of town, on a large section of land called Rush Park, where he also built a magnificent horse barn, his family mansion, and peripheral structures. The burgeoning community was soon home to other mansions, churches, and even a trolley-car service. Williams went on to raise other record-breaking horses, but he lost much of his fortune in the Panic of 1893
. Williams subsequently moved to Galesburg, Illinois
, where (among other things) he became acquainted with the young Carl Sandburg
(as mentioned in Sandburg's autobiography, Always the Young Strangers). Today, the location of Williams' race track (which was the original site of the Buchanan County Fairgrounds) is a corn field. His house is still standing, but, in recent years, the Rush Park barn was demolished by a bulldozer, to make way for a fastfood drive-in and an auto parts store. In the years that followed the race track days, the town lost most of its importance when the railroad terminal at Independence was pushed further west to Waterloo, Iowa
.
It is not widely known that Independence has an historical connection with the American-born writer Gertrude Stein
. While living in Paris, Stein became close friends with an American expatriate painter named William Edwards Cook
, who was born in Independence in 1881. It was Cook who taught Stein how to drive (so that she could transport supplies for the French during World War I). In her second autobiography, titled Everybody’s Autobiography, she talks about her fondness for the state, and for Cook’s hometown in particular, which she had never visited (although, as a child in San Francisco, she was well aware of the town's sudden celebrity as a horse racing center). Her fondness for Iowa is also partly attributable to her close friendship with American writer Carl Van Vechten (who would become her literary executor), who had grown up in nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1933, when Stein traveled throughout the U.S. on a book publicity tour, she eagerly agreed to speak at Iowa City (on the second floor of what is now the Prairie Lights Bookstore), with the provision that she would be able to fly over Independence, to see Cook’s birthplace from the air. Unfortunately, the Midwest was hit by a major winter storm that day, and Stein’s visit to Iowa was entirely cancelled. Cook himself had returned to Independence for an extended visit in 1925, to assist in settling the affairs of his father, an Independence lawyer who had died the year before. When Cook returned to Paris, he used part of his inheritance to commission a young architect named Le Corbusier
to design, on the outskirts of Paris, what is now considered to be the first Cubist house, called Maison Cook or Villa Cook.
The race track at Rush Park has also the distinction of being the site of the first one-mile bicycle speed record of under two minutes, which was set in 1892 at Independence by John S. Johnson
.
Of additional interest are several other buildings of historic and architectural value. Among these are the Christian Seeland House and Brewery at 1010 4th Street Northeast (1873), an Italianate style mansion and brewery; Saint John's Roman Catholic Church at 2nd Street and 4th Avenue Northeast (1911); the Independence Free Public Library, formerly the Munson Building, at 210 2nd Street Northeast (1893–95); Saint James Episcopal Church on 2nd Avenue Northeast, just north of 2nd Street (1863, 1873); and the United States Post Office Building at 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue Northeast (1934), not for its architecture, but because hanging inside in the lobby is a WPA
mural from the 1930s, titled Postman in the Snow, painted by a former Independence resident named Robert Tabor. About 10 miles east of Independence, south of U.S. Highway 20
, near Quasqueton, is the Lowell Walter house or Cedar Rock
, a state-owned Frank Lloyd Wright
house that is open to the public from May through October.
and Rowley
The district includes three elementary schools and a junior senior high school. The area is also served by St. John Catholic School.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Buchanan County
Buchanan County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 20,958 in the county, with a population density of . There were 8,968 housing units, of which 8,161 were occupied.-2000 census:...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 5,966 in the 2010 census, a decline from 6,014 in the 2000 census.
Geography
Independence is located at 42°28′13"N 91°53′38"W (42.470191, -91.893898).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), of which 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²), or 3.39%, is water.
Demographics
2010 census
The 2010 census recorded a population of 5,966 in the city, with a population density of . There were 2,745 housing units, of which 2,521 were occupied.2000 census
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 6,014 people, 2,432 households, and 1,588 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,621.8 people per square mile (625.9/km²). There were 2,610 housing units at an average density of 703.9 per square mile (271.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.97% White, 0.28% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.22% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.
There were 2,432 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,554, and the median income for a family was $45,951. Males had a median income of $31,161 versus $21,597 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $20,683. About 5.0% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
History
Independence was founded in 1847 near the center of present-day Buchanan County. The original town plat was a simple nine-block grid on the east side of the Wapsipinicon RiverWapsipinicon River
The Wapsipinicon River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in northeastern Iowa in the United States. It drains a rural farming region of rolling hills and bluffs north of Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. The initial vowel rhymes with "pop".It rises in Mower County, Minnesota...
. The town was intended as an alternative to Quasqueton
Quasqueton, Iowa
Quasqueton is a city in Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 574 at the 2000 census. Just northwest of the town is Cedar Rock, a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which is maintained by the state as a museum.-Geography:...
(then called Quasequetuk), which was the county seat prior to 1847. The village of Independence had fewer than 15 persons when the county seat was transferred there.
A courthouse was built in 1857, on the east side of the town, on a site described at that time as "the highest tract of land in the neighborhood," where offers "a fine view of the city of Independence, the Valley of the Wapsipinicon, and the surrounding Country". The original courthouse was replaced in 1939 by a Moderne or Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
structure.
Among the town's distinctions has been the long-term presence of the Independence State Hospital
Independence State Hospital
The Independence State Hospital was built in 1873 as the second asylum in the state of Iowa. It is located in Independence, Iowa. The original plan for patients was to relieve crowding from the hospital at Mount Pleasant and to hold alcoholics, geriactrics, drug addicts, mentally ill, and the...
(formerly called the Iowa State Hospital for the Insane), located on a large, remote tract of land on the west edge of town. The recently restored main building, called the Reynolds Building (made of "native prairie granite" in French Second Empire style), was built in 1873. Today it is open to the public for scheduled tours.
For a few years in the late 1880s and early 1890s, Independence was a nationally-known horse-racing center, and was sometimes referred to as the "Lexington of the North". This came about as a result of the meteoric financial success of Charles W. Williams. A telegraph operator and creamery owner from nearby Jesup, Iowa
Jesup, Iowa
Jesup is a city in Black Hawk and Buchanan Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 2,212 at the 2000 census.The Black Hawk County portion of Jesup is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Williams (with no experience in breeding horses) purchased in 1885 two mares, each of which within a year gave birth to a stallion. These two stallions, which Williams named Axtel and Allerton, went on the set world trotting records, with the result that Williams' earnings enabled him to publish a racing newspaper titled The American Trotter, to build a large three-story hotel and opera house called The Gedney, and to construct a figure-eight shaped race track on the west edge of town, on a large section of land called Rush Park, where he also built a magnificent horse barn, his family mansion, and peripheral structures. The burgeoning community was soon home to other mansions, churches, and even a trolley-car service. Williams went on to raise other record-breaking horses, but he lost much of his fortune in the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
. Williams subsequently moved to Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County....
, where (among other things) he became acquainted with the young Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
(as mentioned in Sandburg's autobiography, Always the Young Strangers). Today, the location of Williams' race track (which was the original site of the Buchanan County Fairgrounds) is a corn field. His house is still standing, but, in recent years, the Rush Park barn was demolished by a bulldozer, to make way for a fastfood drive-in and an auto parts store. In the years that followed the race track days, the town lost most of its importance when the railroad terminal at Independence was pushed further west to Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...
.
It is not widely known that Independence has an historical connection with the American-born writer Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
. While living in Paris, Stein became close friends with an American expatriate painter named William Edwards Cook
William Edwards Cook
William Edwards Cook was an American-born expatriate artist, architectural patron, and long-time friend of American writer Gertrude Stein. Following his 1903 departure from the U.S., Cook resided in Paris, Rome, Russia, and on the island of Majorca, in the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of...
, who was born in Independence in 1881. It was Cook who taught Stein how to drive (so that she could transport supplies for the French during World War I). In her second autobiography, titled Everybody’s Autobiography, she talks about her fondness for the state, and for Cook’s hometown in particular, which she had never visited (although, as a child in San Francisco, she was well aware of the town's sudden celebrity as a horse racing center). Her fondness for Iowa is also partly attributable to her close friendship with American writer Carl Van Vechten (who would become her literary executor), who had grown up in nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1933, when Stein traveled throughout the U.S. on a book publicity tour, she eagerly agreed to speak at Iowa City (on the second floor of what is now the Prairie Lights Bookstore), with the provision that she would be able to fly over Independence, to see Cook’s birthplace from the air. Unfortunately, the Midwest was hit by a major winter storm that day, and Stein’s visit to Iowa was entirely cancelled. Cook himself had returned to Independence for an extended visit in 1925, to assist in settling the affairs of his father, an Independence lawyer who had died the year before. When Cook returned to Paris, he used part of his inheritance to commission a young architect named Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
to design, on the outskirts of Paris, what is now considered to be the first Cubist house, called Maison Cook or Villa Cook.
The race track at Rush Park has also the distinction of being the site of the first one-mile bicycle speed record of under two minutes, which was set in 1892 at Independence by John S. Johnson
John S. Johnson
John S. Johnson was an early American cyclist and speed skater. He was the first to bicycle 1-mile in less than two minutes, or 1:56.6. This happened in 1892 at a racing track in Independence, Iowa. Johnson was also a world record holder in speed skating, and won world championship titles in both...
.
Of additional interest are several other buildings of historic and architectural value. Among these are the Christian Seeland House and Brewery at 1010 4th Street Northeast (1873), an Italianate style mansion and brewery; Saint John's Roman Catholic Church at 2nd Street and 4th Avenue Northeast (1911); the Independence Free Public Library, formerly the Munson Building, at 210 2nd Street Northeast (1893–95); Saint James Episcopal Church on 2nd Avenue Northeast, just north of 2nd Street (1863, 1873); and the United States Post Office Building at 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue Northeast (1934), not for its architecture, but because hanging inside in the lobby is a WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
mural from the 1930s, titled Postman in the Snow, painted by a former Independence resident named Robert Tabor. About 10 miles east of Independence, south of U.S. Highway 20
U.S. Route 20 in Iowa
U.S. Route 20 in Iowa is a major east–west artery which runs across the state, separating the northern third of Iowa from the southern two-thirds. It enters Iowa from Nebraska, concurrent with Interstate 129 and U.S Route 75, crossing the Missouri River at Sioux City. US 20 runs in a...
, near Quasqueton, is the Lowell Walter house or Cedar Rock
Cedar Rock State Park
Cedar Rock State Park is a state park of Iowa, USA, preserving the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Lowell Walter Residence, also known as Cedar Rock. The Usonian style house was constructed in Quasqueton, Iowa, in 1950...
, a state-owned Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
house that is open to the public from May through October.
Education
Independence belongs to the Independence School District, which also includes the towns of BrandonBrandon, Iowa
Brandon is a city in Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 311 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Brandon is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
and Rowley
Rowley, Iowa
Rowley is a city in Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 290 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rowley is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
The district includes three elementary schools and a junior senior high school. The area is also served by St. John Catholic School.
Points of interest
- Big Bud 747Big Bud 747Big Bud 747, or 16-V 747, is the name of a custom made tractor that was built in Havre, Montana in 1977. It holds the record for the world's largest farm tractor. It was built by Ron Harmon and employees of the Northern Manufacturing Company for a cost of about $300,000...
, the world's largest farm tractor - Wapsipinicon Mill
- Independence State HospitalIndependence State HospitalThe Independence State Hospital was built in 1873 as the second asylum in the state of Iowa. It is located in Independence, Iowa. The original plan for patients was to relieve crowding from the hospital at Mount Pleasant and to hold alcoholics, geriactrics, drug addicts, mentally ill, and the...
, a historic mental hospitalMental HospitalMental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
located on the outskirts of the city.
Notable people
- William Edwards CookWilliam Edwards CookWilliam Edwards Cook was an American-born expatriate artist, architectural patron, and long-time friend of American writer Gertrude Stein. Following his 1903 departure from the U.S., Cook resided in Paris, Rome, Russia, and on the island of Majorca, in the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of...
, American expatriate artist - Janet DaileyJanet DaileyJanet Anne Haradon Dailey is an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey . Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide....
, novelist - Leonard Eugene DicksonLeonard Eugene DicksonLeonard Eugene Dickson was an American mathematician. He was one of the first American researchers in abstract algebra, in particular the theory of finite fields and classical groups, and is also remembered for a three-volume history of number theory.-Life:Dickson considered himself a Texan by...
, prominent mathematician - Murray JoslinMurray JoslinWilliam Murray Joslin was an electrical engineer who made major contributions to nuclear power. He was born in Independence, Iowa.-Biography:...
, electrical engineer who made major contributions to nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity... - William A. NoyesWilliam A. NoyesWilliam Albert Noyes was an American analytical and organic chemist. He made pioneering determinations of atomic weights, chaired the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1907 to 1926, was the founder and editor of several important chemical journals, and...
, analytical and organic chemist - Ulysses Prentiss HedrickUlysses Prentiss HedrickUlysses Prentiss Hedrick was an American botanistand horticulturistwho specialized in spermatophytes.His main interest was cultivated fruit trees and he published a number of volumes dealing with such fruits as cherries, grapes, plums, and peaches. Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick, A History of...
, botanist and horticulturist who specialized in spermatophytes - Harry E. YarnellHarry E. YarnellAdmiral Harry Ervin Yarnell was an American naval officer whose career spanned 51 years and three wars, from the Spanish-American War through World War II.-Early life and Naval career:...
, U.S. Navy admiral
External links
- Official City of Independence website
- Buchanan County, Iowa Historical Society
- History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume 1 by Harry Church Chappell and Katharyn Joella Allen Chappell The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company(1914 copyright expired) This searchable and pdf downloadable book was scanned into the public domainPublic domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
by Google books. - WPA Artist Robert Tabor
- City Data Comprehensive statistical data and more about Independence, Iowa